


A Descent Into Insanity

by CourtyardJester, River_boi



Category: OFF (Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt, False Memories, I Don't Even Know, Identity Issues, Implied Relationships, Memories, Other, Psychological Horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-01 22:48:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20265760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CourtyardJester/pseuds/CourtyardJester, https://archiveofourown.org/users/River_boi/pseuds/River_boi
Summary: Batter gets to the end and everything goes smoothly, at the beginning.After awhile he starts getting flashes of memories that aren't his





	1. Chapter 1

At first, everything was okay.  
Nothing to indicate that something was wrong.

Once the switch had been flipped, the game stopped. The only ones left moving were Batter and Zacharie. The only ones not 'purified'.

Batter hadn't seen a reason to purify the merchant, for he had done nothing to get in his way. Hell he'd been a great source of supplies. Purifying him seemed to be only hurtful to his mission.

And of course Batter couldn't purify himself. The notion was silly anyway.

The first time that it happened, Batter was taking a well deserved nap. He had dreamed, or so he had thought it was merely a dream, of a pale skinned boy. He'd described him as boy as he looked to small and frail to be a man. It was a vague dream, one where the boy ran over in the night, brunette hair a mess and covered in bruises and barely wearing anything more than a hoodie and shorts. Perhaps they had enough been boxers.

He had thought nothing of it and nether had Zacharie. It's as just a dream after all. Right?

The second time was, weirder, more detailed. He'd been able to see intricate designs on the walls that we're lined with crystals of ice. Though he'd been stuck on the girl he was fighting in the memory. She was pudgy and holding her mittebed hand out like she was blocking him, before a splitting pain had erupted in his feet. When he looked down he was bolted in place by icy spikes, now soaked in his blood. He remembered her yelling something to the effect of "don't mess with a queen!".

He swore she said something before saying queen. Dialogue was the hardest to remember for him, though he specifically remembered her purple jacket.

"It's quite odd, amigo. Do you really think nothings going on?" Zacharie asked when Batter brought the queen dream, as he dubbed it, up to him. The masked merchant wore a face of worry under his smiling cat mask. Batter looked off over the white of the town from atop the library before responding.

"Something is most definitely happening. What it is and whether I should be concerned is up for debate." He laid back, hands resting under his soft, dull yellow locks. Zacharie followed suit. "Tell me if it happens again. "

It did happen again, in fact, shortly after Zacharie had left for his theme park he called home.This time he'd dreamed about a desolate place. Paintings and chalk drawings were everywhere. Jumbled chalk writing had been along the walls of the place he'd entered, he seemed to ignore it as he went. He simply walked through the house before coming to a cot, similar to Zacharies with junk around it as well. Water bottles, bags and cans of food, a can opener obviously, and other things he didn't get a good look at as he say down and curled up on the thin mattress.

Batter had sat up and realized.

Something was wrong, very wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

_“Maybe you can find a suitable alternative to help those who have passed on?”_

The Batter splashed his face with a handful of plastic, letting it run down his face before using his baseball jersey to wipe away the excess liquid. The memory wasn’t his own like the one before. He saw Eloha’s featureless face as she sat with the one who had experienced it. Her hushed voice echoing in his mind like a sonnet. A twinge of… something was felt in the pit of his stomach. It made him nauseous the more he thought about it.

Who she was talking to… he couldn’t say. Not like he could remember anyway. Maybe if he tried to remember the details, he would be able to piece together who it was. Did he want to dwell on it? No.

Maybe he should seek out Zacharie. Maybe he could shed some light on things… or maybe he would tell Batter the same thing he said the previous day. Who was he to say what the other would do? Thinking back to when they spoke last, he was asked to speak-up…

\---

“That sounds quite ominous, cher batteur.” The merchant commented as they walked through the purified second zone. “I don’t think it’s much to worry about, unless it takes a toll on you.”

“There are many ways something can drain you. I think you need to be more specific.”

“I’m talking about sickness, mi amigo. Not just physically, but mentally. Experiencing things like this can be traumatic to those who don’t have a way to take care of it.”

“Do you have visions like this, Zacharie?”

“Believe it or not, I don’t think so. I’m not much of a dreamer during the nighttime. I prefer to dream during the day.” a light chuckle ripples through Zacharie before continuing. “It helps reduce the stress of loneliness. Maybe you should try the same?”

The blond looked to his companion. “Maybe… I’ll try it.”  
\---

_The lamps illuminating the smoke mines surrounded him. The stale smell of blood filled the man’s nose. In front of him; a cave-in. It would take him forever to clear this up. A growl rippled through his throat. This wouldn’t do… this wouldn’t do at all. Not only would this take a few days to clear, but he’d just lost those working in the tunnels. He told them to be careful. He told them to be mindful of the support beams. Why didn’t they listen?! A sigh escaped his throat. He shed his coat, and got to work._

The purifier awoke to the sight of a bloody hand. His own hand. His own blood. Batter sat up and flinched at touching the wound. He’d need to clean this up before it got worse. Would a luck ticket do the trick? It had been a good handful of days since he used one. Maybe he still had a few left over...


	3. Chapter 3

_He frantically looked through his papers, trying to figure it out. They haven't got their rations and they were upset about it. He paused as he held a paper, suddenly remembering what she had said. He sighed and set the paper down. Could he really do that? Well… sugar would be made much faster, but they were his people._

Batter mumbled to himself as he sat on the ledge of zone one. The plastic was too low to reach his feet at the moment.

The memories are starting to get to him, they're making him feel guilty. He never feels guilty.

He grips his head, knocking his hat off as he brings his hands up.

This is just a game isn't it? Then why does he feel like this? Why does he feel at al?! This is wrong, so very wrong. Zacharie is right, something is very off here.

Batter growls, his emotions are running too high. He needs to calm down before he transforms. Though it doesn't really matter if he does anymore does it? Zach already knows about it and he's the only one other than the batter himself


	4. Chapter 4

Emotionless. That’s what he was. He’s always been like that. Today though, we felt a smile tug at his lips. His last dream was… happy. Yes, happy. A redheaded woman who couldn’t have been older than 22 was learning a small stringed instrument. It looked like the ukulele Zacharie kept on his bag. He remembered her laugh as she tried playing random notes to whoever his point of view was with. She looked and sounded happy. The memory seemed to glitch and jump forward to the same woman sewing something. A mask.

_ “░░░░░░░, come here for a minute! I have a gift for you!” _

Her voice was energetic save for the static in the beginning. A garbled voice answered and she held out the mask.

_ “It’s kind of morbid, but I know you don’t like all those scars on your face… so I made you this from our last fight with Naomi.” _ The mask was made of a cow skull. Morbid, yes. A thoughtful gift? Also yes.

His point of view slipped it on and asked something. The woman’s eyes lit up and she nodded. 

_ “Of course I can show you, you did show me how to play your ukulele after all.” _

\---

The Batter felt like he was going to be sick when he woke up. At this point, he started feeling something. He couldn’t tell what it was, but he didn’t like it… All of these memories were making him feel horrible. He never felt horrible. It was like being punched over and over in the gut. Like he was taking a beating from every person these memories showed to him and he couldn’t fight back. 

What if flipping the switch was a bad idea? Did he even do the right thing? Slowly, the man sat up. Of course… it was right. This world needed purity. It needed to be made anew. It was the right thing… yeah… the right thing. He needed to let out steam. He needed to figure things out. He grabbed his bat from where he left it, donned his cap and left the room he slept in. He hoped this would help. Besides, some of these ‘pure’ beasts needed to be put back in their place.


	5. Chapter 5

Caged. 

He felt caged. Both because of these dreams and the feelings they brought. 

He scribbled writing onto any blank spots of paper he could find, just like his puppeteer had when they had to figure out puzzles. 

That's all it was right?? A big, fucked up puzzle? 

He scribbled what happened in this memory as it happened. 

The caged animals, the men who would come to get them or put new ones in, and the way they laughed at the pathetic messes even the most dangerous of animals had become. 

Few animals tried to fight and those who did gave up quicker than a spectre got aggressive. 

He stared down at the dozens and dozens of papers that he'd written on, trying to figure it out, trying to understand what it meant. 

He moved paper after paper and put them in different orders but he couldn't make sense of them. 

Nothing connected. 

Nothing was the same in any of them

He let out a scream and threw the papers up and they scattered like elsen that had seen a ghost. 

He grit his teeth, clawed at his arms till they bled leaving splatters he wasn't unused to. The metallic scent that would be nearly invisible to a normal person stung his hypersensitive nose as he huffed. 

Zacharie knew better than to interrupt the batter when he did something, especially when he's been acting like this. So once he heard only the ragged breathing he finally entered. 

"Amigo.. You need to stop this. They are nothing but dreams." The man of many years no background spoke picking up an office paper batter scribbled on. 

"They're not-"  
"But they are. Dreams get very strange sometimes. And you digging in as much as you do isn't good for your health." Zach knew he was lying through his teeth, though he meant absolutely no ill will with these lies. 

Zacharie simply wanted batter to calm himself, and hopefully slow this descent into madness, if not stop it completely, so he could try to figure it out himself. 

He sighed and pulled out luck tickets to heal the bleeding welts on his arm long since stripped of the black undershirt. 

No batter had.. Well in all honesty nothing like this has ever happened. Thinking back Zach could only think of a few who had reported a memory, and only one who had reported it more than once. 

Both men hated this. Both for different reasons, and both want, No. Need to figure this out and soon


End file.
